Sunday, 28 July 2013

I love wearing golden tones as I feel it really makes my brown eyes 'pop'. I always get complimented on this look and I really like it as well. To achieve this I mainly used the Jemma Kidd Artist Kit Pro Palette 02, as my concealer I used the apricot colour corrector to cover my dark under eye circles. I also used my 17 BB Cream in light to cooverr discolouration on my cheeks and nose (they are always redder than the rest of my face!?). I like using this combination in the summer as the are both very light products that provide the coverage I need, and it never feels like I'm wearing face make up at all.

From the palette, I used the eye prep & primer over my eyelids, to ensure the eye shadows would stay in place. To provide a coloured base, I swiped the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Gold (on the inner half of my eyelids) and Bronze (on the outer half of my eyelids), and just blended these out with my fingers. For eye shadow I started with the Eye Essentials Shimmer Shadow in Brulee all over the lids, and the Tailored Colour I-Ris Enhancer in Bronze in the crease ( both from the Jemma Kidd palette.) Also, from the palette, I used the Exclusive Shadow in Cream on the inner corners of the eyes, to give the eyes a brighter look.

I used MAC Woodwinked to make the look subtly smoky and blended it out and placed MAC Blanc Type on the brow bone. I used the Gold Jumbo Pencil to line my lower lash line, and a black kohl eye liner from 17 to line my upper lash line. I then curled my lashes and applied two coats of the Benefit They're Real Mascara, to add length and volume. For this look I didn't fill in my brows as I wanted the main focus on the glowy skin and golden eyes.

The palette has a Dewy Glow Radiance Crème in Rose Gold which I applied with my fingers to my cheek bones. I also sweeped Bourjois blusher in Sienne over the apples of my cheeks. To contour I used my all-time favourite contour/bronzer; Sleek's Face Contour Kit in light and also carried some up to my temples, to make my skin look more naturally tanned as it has no shimmer or glitter in the product.

For the lips, I kept it a natural pink, with Rimmel's Vinyl Gloss in Steal my Kisses, which I amazingly picked up from Poundland! I love this gloss as its not sticky, and smells of sweets as well!

Saturday, 27 July 2013

In our house, we never have any luck when baking cakes. They just never seem to rise or become light and fluffy. So, today I thought I would try a new recipe that may turn out to look like a 'stereotypical' cake.

2. Combine all the cake ingredients in a large bowl. Beat well until smooth.

3. Divide trhe mixture equally into the prepared tins and level the surfaces. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°c (160°c fan, Gas 4) for about 25 minutes or until it is well risen, golden and springy to the touch.

4. Turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the lining paper, and leave to cool.

5. Sandwich the 2 cakes together with jam and butter cream and sprinkle the top of the cake with caster sugar.

It didn't end up looking the best cake in the world, but don't judge a book by it's cover, scrummy.

After the main cake was finished, we also made a bunch of chocolate cupcakes as well!

makes 12

Ingredients:

175 g of soft butter or margarine

175 g of caster sugar

3 eggs

115 g of self-raising flour

1 rounded tsp of baking powder

40g of cocoa powder

4 tbsp of boiling water

A tub of Betty Crocker Chocolate Icing

Small treats to decorate

1. Line one 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases. Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl, pour in the boiling water, and mix into a thick paste. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with an electric whisk.

2. Divide the mixture evenly among the 12 paper cases. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°c (180°c fan, Gas 6) for about 10 minutes until well risen and springy to touch. Cool in the cases on a wire rack.

3. When cool, spread the icing over the cakes and sprinkle on decorations, we used small honeycomb pieces and white chocolate stars.

As some of our cupcakes sunk after we took them out of the oven, we doubled them up by icing one the placing another on top. Double the fun!

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Every season everyone has their 'go-to' products that are essential to them all the time, and these beauties are my summer staple items...

BB Cream: In the summer I don't like to wear a lot on my face - make up wise, so whenever I'm going out or meeting friends, family etc. I like to use a bb cream as they are less coverage than a foundation but cover any discolouration on my face. The 17 bb cream is the only one I have tried and it has quite a high coverage for what I would expect from a bb cream. Even though it is in the shade light, it is more on the pinkish scale of skin colours, so if you are more yellow toned I would opt for another bb cream, any recommendations? However, I do like the concept of BB creams and would love to try other brands. Also, I am interested in CC creams and would really like to try the L'oreal ones. Are they any good?

Lipstick: This Bourjois lipstick is my favourite at the moment, it's in shade number 17, which is rose millésime in the new Rouge Edition collection. This lipstick is smooth and buttery, very similar to the Revlon Lip Butters but the colour pay-off is very good and vibrant. I wore this the first time to my prom, a couple of weeks ago and it really impressed me as it lasted for about 3 hours (after eating and drinking) and then I only had to apply it once again. Next time I go shopping, I will definitely be picking up some more colours as I really like this one!

Nail Polish: My favourite colours for my nails this summer are pastels and coral colours. The OPI polish is in Mediterranean Moonlight, which is a subtle peachy coral with gold reflex shimmer. It looks really pretty on the nails as well as toe nails and if added gold glitter as an accent it looks gorgeous as well. As its really hard to find OPI in the UK, I picked this up in Tk Maxx as a set of three. If you are in search for OPI polishes, they regularly sell them in pack and often in collections as mini's. My favourite pastels are Rimmel's 703 Pear Drop and 702 Marshmallow Heaven. The colours have no shimmer or glitter in them, just very shiny and glossy!

Body Butter: Body Shop's mango body butter is my all time favourite body moisturiser. I am very picky when it comes to moisturisers (face or body) as they can't be sticky, take long to absorb into skin or leave any oily residue on the skin. Firstly, Body Shop's moisturisers claim to last up to 24 hours and I totally agree, also it doesn't take any time at all to absorb into your skin and leaves no residue on the skin. Also not to forget the smell! This particular one is made from mango oil from India and seriously, it smells divine, just like mango's!

Body Scrub: Flake Away from Soap and Glory is highly raved about and believe me it lives up to it. Again the smell is refreshing and sweet, and the scrub itself is made from shea butter and almond oils which moisturise the skin and sugar, sea salt, peach and grape seeds to exfoliate the skin. After the scrub is massaged into the damp skin, the grains begin to dissolve, leaving silky oils on the skin. These oils don't make your skin oily just smooth!

Argan Oil: I picked this up in Primark a few weeks ago for a couple of pounds and thought I would give it ago. I've heard many good reviews about argan and Moroccan oil but always seen them to be quiet expensive. Even though its a small bottle; only 18 ml, I thought it would be easy to take to the beach, or pool. It can be applied to wet or dry hair at the tips to condition them quickly. I like this product so a full-sized bottle is now on my wishlist.

Body Mist: Another product from Soap and Glory which I am loving is the Mist You Madly body fragrance. Its a floral scent which is one of my favourites and it is very light and girly. You can pick up Soap and Glory products in Boots, and occasionally they have great deals as well (especially around Christmas!)

Moisturiser: I was given this moisturiser for birthday, from my auntie who recommended it to me. Its by the company called FC5, and its an oil-absorbing day lotion with SPF 20. This saves me an extra step in summer as I don't have to apply sun cream in the morning as it is a 2 in 1 product. It contains fresh kiwi cell extracts which hydrates and moisturises the skin, which it does! Its a light moisturiser which absorbs into the skin quickly and leaves no oily residue, which you would expect from a product that contains sunscreen-like products.

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

After buying this classic black dress last week in the summer sales, it was intended for school, therefore, I put it away for summer but eventually I gave in to my own will. When I bought the dress I managed to convince myself that it would be very versatile and classic, which would work well when paired with other clothing items.

In the above photos, I wore it with floral sandals but you could pair it with a cropped denim jacket, like this one from forever 21 and some white converse. This is a quick and easy look which I think is very smart but casual which would be ideal for a day shopping, going to meet friends or just visiting relatives. For a dressier look I threw on some pink platform wedges which I got 2 years ago in the Matalan sales, for only £3!!! What a bargain, plus there is/was no fault, manufacture problem or dirt on them! *BONUS* I also tied this gold spiked belt around the high waistline of the dress to give it a edgier vibe, or placed it around my neck to make it look like a long-style necklace.

As this dress is made from a polyester-spandex fibres, the dress is very light weight and stretchy. Therefore it is very comfortable to wear and sit down in, and is thick enough to not be sheer/ see-through. The embossed pattern gives a subtle twist on the classic 'little black dress', as the tribal-esque textured design makes it more unique.

This dress is definitely a staple item for every girl to have in their wardrobe and I do encourage everyone to search the sales, and eventually you will find the little gem you will lust over. For me, this dress can be paired with virtually every accessory including my new puppy, Poppy!

Thursday, 18 July 2013

One of the top summer trends this year is red, and personally I love it! I chose my absolute favourite items to put this collage together and I just wish I owned all these items as well! I feel that red is one of the few transitional colours to wear all year round and can be dressed up or down for any occasion. Red pairs perfectly with monochrome clothing and either gold or silver jewellery.

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

I've decided to start a blog to talk/review makeup and fashion as well as doing a few fun and spontaneous posts along the way. My main aim is to become more knowledgeable about the fashion and beauty industries as I am very passionate about these communities and would love to pursue a job in either one of these industries when I am older.

I guess this is the time when I begin to introduce myself so ...

My name is Bronwyn and I am 16 years old. I have recently completed my GCSE's and I am now on summer break! As I have previously told you, I am very interested in the fashion and beauty 'worlds', therefore I thought I would promise myself to start a blog over my summer holiday's, to make it my "summer project". I guess you could say that I'm obsessed with watching the infamous beauty guru's on YouTube *cough* *cough* zoella, sprinkleofglitter, fleur, as well as reading their blogs and many others as well. Although this probably sounds really cheesy but they have inspired me to start my own blog and today I have finally built up the confidence to begin this blog.

I would love it if you have any requests for future blogs or questions about blogs in general, please leave me a comment, and I'll talk to you soon